Music / Hate Eternal

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Hate Eternal is an American brutal death metal band. Characterized by their blazingly fast tempos and the unique and instantly recognizable guitar style of Erik Rutan, Hate Eternal has become a very major player in the brutal death genre, arguably having become almost as famous as Rutan's music production career.

The band was formed in St. Petersburg, Florida in 1997 by Rutan (guitar, vocals) and Tim Yeung (drums), quickly recording a promo split with the progressive metal band Alas that same year before welcoming in Jared Anderson (bass, vocals) the following year, followed by Doug Cerrito the following year. This lineup went on to record Conquering the Throne, their full-length debut, though Cerrito left almost immediately after, with Yeung quickly following. The man who replaced Yeung was none other than drummer extraordinaire Derek Roddy, creating the lineup that would record King of All Kings, which was followed by a touring blitzkrieg. Anderson, however, was forced to leave in 2003 due to worsening drug issues, with Randy Piro taking his place. I, Monarch followed in 2005, creating even more buzz and even attracting the praise of Alex Webster; Roddy, however, had grown tired of the music industry, resulting in his departure in 2006 shortly before a lengthy tour. Kevin Talley and Reno Killerich stepped up for the US and European tours, respectively.

It was then that calamity struck. Just as Rutan was about to talk to Anderson about rejoining, the latter passed away in October of 2006. Rutan, despondent, almost dissolved the band, but decided to soldier on anyways, recruiting his old Ripping Corpse bandmate Shaune Kelley (guitar, vocals) along with a young gun drummer from Quebec by the name of Jade Simonetto. This was the lineup that would record Fury and Flames, along with Alex Webster, who was drafted by Rutan as a session musician in lieu of an actual full-time bassist. Kelley left shortly after, however, though Rutan was at least able to draft Makoto Mizoguchi for live bass before eventually nabbing J.J. Hrubovcak as a full-time member. This resulted in the release of Phoenix Amongst the Ashes in 2011 and has lasted to the present day; as of the writing of this article, an as-yet untitled new album is in the works; additionally, Jade left in October of 2013 to focus on getting his career underway. As of October 2014, they have announced Chason Westmoreland as the new drummer, and Infernus, their fifth studio album, will be released in August of 2015. As of October 2015, Chason Westmoreland has left due to family issues; Hannes Grossmann will be filling in for him on a temporary live basis, and long-term plans have not yet been announced.

Grief Song: "Tombeau (Le Tombeau de la Fureur et Des Flammes)" was one for Anderson, and Fury and Flames had overtones of this as a whole.

Harsh Vocals: Erik Rutan uses a throaty bellow that is somewhat similar to David Vincent's vocals circa Covenant, just with a more roar-like character. The backing vocalists, meanwhile, have always used higher-pitched shrieks.

I Want You to Meet an Old Friend of Mine: Shaune Kelley had played with Rutan in Ripping Corpse a long while back and had carried that band on after its demise as Dim Mak, so he was still devoted to death metal, and he was also still good friends with Rutan. The only reason that he didn't stay is because he realized that he really hated touring.

Lead Bassist: Most have been Type B examples (and Type A by extent due to the complexity of the arrangements), though Anderson was also a Type C due to his untimely demise and the effect it had on Rutan.

Loudness War: Noticeable on every album, ESPECIALLY Fury and Flames, which got a ton of flak for its incredibly muddy and indecipherable production. Come to think of it, pretty much every album produced by Rutan is going to have issues with this.

Mean Character, Nice Actor: Erik Rutan has an intimidating stage presence and a vocal style that is best described as "baleful wargod", but he's an exceptionally friendly and outgoing person offstage who always takes the time to hang out with fans.

Metal Scream: Erik Rutan is a type 1, their backing vocalists (with the exception of Shaune Kelley) have all been type 3.

Signature Style: Exceedingly fast, blast-heavy material with occasional atmospheric overtones in the leads and heavy use of octave chords to create a form of otherworldly dissonance. Also expect a few slower-paced Morbid Angel-esque tracks here and there. Erik Rutan also has an easily recognizable lead style that makes heavy use of Middle Eastern scales, lengthy sustained vibrato in lieu of shred passages, occasional quick bursts of rapid-fire alternative picking, and an extremely distinctive tone that virtually anyone who has listened to a decent amount of death metal will be able to pick out pretty much instantly.

Special Guest: This was essentially what Alex Webster was on Fury and Flames. Rutan also does this from time to time, usually laying down a guitar solo for a band he's producing.

Teen Genius: Chason Westmoreland was good enough as a teenager (back when he was in Burning the Masses) to attract attention from both the bands that he was touring with and Erik Rutan himself; the latter discovered him when a member of another band that was on a touring bill with Burning the Masses told Rutan to watch him in action. Rutan was impressed enough by his performance that he placed him at the top of the list of drummers to contact when Jade left in 2013.

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